Function

right rostral superior temporal gyrus acts as site of convergence and interface between dorsal and ventral visual streams contributing to processing of both object- and space-related information 1, and fMRI studies have identified a critical role of the right STG in social perception (the processing of non-verbal social cues to assess the mental states of others) 3

left posterior superior temporal gyrus mediates language processing and is involved in auditory short-term memory 4 and both perception and production of speech although language perception appears to have a degree of bilaterality, particularly with respect to phonemic information) 5

Related pathology

Lesions in the right rostral superior temporal gyrus result in visuospatial neglect in the contralesional side and impaired motion perception in both hemifields 1 while lesions in the middle STG lead to impairment in exploratory visual search 6.

Lesions of the left posterior superior temporal gyrus produce impairments in receptive language and can also result in a conduction aphasia (characterised by paraphasia and anomia). Bilateral lesions of the superior temporal gyrus are known to result in pure word deafness 5.

The superior temporal gyrus also appears to play a role in the pathophysiology of autism:

an MRI study identified statistically significant enlargement of the right superior temporal gyrus in autistic individuals and, taken together with a postmortem study reporting abnormal cortical structure in autistic individuals along with fMRI studies showing abnormal activity in the superior temporal gyrus, points to a possible structural cause for the impaired social interaction seen in autism 3

impaired activation of the left superior temporal gyrus in response to auditory stimuli has been observed in fMRI studies of autistic individuals and a dissociation between superior temporal gyrus volume and receptive language function in these individuals has also been observed 7